Boone County deputies may have been outnumbered Friday night, but with the help of some eyes in the sky they were able to find dozens of underage drinkers at a party just northwest of Slater.

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Boone County Sheriff Ron Fehr said about 150 people were at the party Friday night -- many underage. With just two deputies on patrol many would have got away without some extra help.

"They left in a hurry evidentially left the beer cans behind. It's not my brand," said farmer Wayne Erickson.

Judging from the full cans of beer Erickson found the next day on his property, it's likely some of the party-goers who ran were hiding on his farm.

Fehr said that's not unusual.

"Wherever they can hide, in vehicles, in the woods, out in the field," said Fehr.

Places where it may be easy to find someone in daylight, but not in the dark.

So the fact that a state patrol pilot and DNR conservation officer just happened to be up in the air that night on a separate enforcement project was a big help.

"Can see where the kids are, point them out and then the officers can go to those locations and pull them out of the weeds or wherever they're hiding," said Fehr.

Conservation officer Brandon Bergquist said they didn't even have night vision on the plane, but the teens made themselves easy to spot.

"Those apps came in handy. A lot of people I think have flashlight apps on their new phones and we were able to home in on those and were able to locate people on foot," said Bergguist.

Bergquist said they just scanned the fields looking for low-intensity light and directed officers on the ground.

"The guys I had direct contact with on the ground said they were able to pick off six people. We were just telling them take a left, take a right and they were able to drive right to people out in the fields," said Bergguist.

Deputies charged more than 40 people with underage alcohol possession.

Not everyone at the party was underage. Fehr said they're still trying to determine who supplied the alcohol for the party.